Heidi is Two! As in years.

Heidi at Two:

- Talks constantly. And when I say constantly, I am not exaggerating. I was exaggerating last time I said it, but not anymore.

- Is almost completely potty trained. Would be completely potty trained if she was allowed to remain naked at all times.

- Says "Gimme Hog" about 50 times a day. And then after you give her one "I love you mommy!" Pretty much my favorite thing ever. She also does this to Daddy and all the grandparents.

Heidi and her "Papa"

- Calls us mommy and daddy, but also by our first names. "Where'd Austin go?" If I am not hearing her pleas for attention "Tamar!!!" In the morning when I've just put Austin's breakfast on the table "Auuuuuustin! Breaaaaaaaakfaaaaaaaaast!!!"

-  Will reassure us when we seem upset by putting a hand on our cheek and saying "Its ok mommy. I love you." Even if the only reason we are upset is that she is openly defying our instructions.

- Is obsessed with beverages. Whatever she sees someone drinking she wants. "I want coffee mummy" "I want tea" "I want  Green Juice" "I want beer!"

- Sings her ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Bla Bla Black Sheep at the piano and tries to play along. I've tried several times to capture this on video but she gets camera shy.

- Likes to put on Daddy's Hipster glasses, smile and say cheese even when there is no camera in sight.

- Exclaims "I did it!" over insignificant achievements all day long. Even when it was actually me who did it.

- Loves blankets. If you hand her one she will lay it out across the floor and assume the fetal position on top of it. She will do this even in public places. Like bakeries.

- Tries to sit and ride things that are not for sitting and riding. Its so funny. The other day she took a tiny chair out of a dollhouse and tried to sit on it. She also loves to try and sit her giant bum on the roofs of tiny hotwheels.

- Loves Yo Gabba Gabba. I'm a terrible mother, I know. It was our only entertainment during Potty training week and now we just can't stop.

- Loves Iphones and will go up to complete strangers and ask to use theirs if she is bored. Her favorite App has changed from Talking Carl to Monkey Preschool Lunchbox.

- Handles her teddy bears and stuffed toys in exactly the same way Grandmothers handle their newborns. In a baby voice: "Awww little teddy bear! Come here! I love you teddy bear!"

- Loves the book "Everyone Poops"

- Loves to color and draw. She recently drew what actually looked like a banana and then told us that it was, in fact, a banana. We were pathetically proud.

- Insists that Daddy say prayer at every nap and bed time.  She closes her eyes and smiles really big, and then at the end shouts "AMEN".

- When Daddy isn't around I am teaching her to say her own prayers, feeding them two her in three to four word increments. Its really adorable to hear her saying her own prayer.

- Whispers! I whisper to myself several times a day and when Heidi hears me she starts whispering too. This comes in handy when we go to the Kingdom Hall (aka our place of worship).

- Announces several times a day where she feels like going - "I want to go to Legoland", "I want to go to snow", "I want to go to gardens".

- Says "take her" whenever she wants one of us to hold her. She picked this up from me asking various family members to take her for a second.

- Loves her "Laptop" - Fisher Price's iXL Learning System (we got it on sale for $30)

- Loves her Bouncy House (ridiculous splurge but so much fun!)

- Favorite Foods are Eggs, Avocados, Raisins, Cuties Tangerines, Chocolate Milk, and Anything Cheesy.

- Is verbally very affectionate. Tells people she barely knows that she loves them.

- Still loves to sleep with her binky and Zebra, her Angel Dear security blanket.

- Makes us laugh everytime she pouts.

- Loves her Nana! 

- Loves her Gigi.

- Loves her Papa

- Says "excuse me" everytime she coughs or sneezes. Says "thank you" emphatically anytime we give her something. Says "please" when she wants something, but only after we've ignored her requests a few times. She is incredibly polite and we're not really sure how it happened since we've never made a conscious effort to teach her manners.

- Says "so sorry mummy" over and over again for the entire length of her "time out"s.

- Is pretty much the best behaved toddler in the world. And we love her. 

Leila's brother and sister

Meet Daniel. My friend Liza's son. Liza came over with 3 of her kids last week because she wanted me to take pictures of her newborn. Leila, however, wasn't in a drowsy kind of mood. So she asked me to grab some shots of her other kids instead. This is what I got. 

I also got some shots of her 2 year old daughter Alina - one of Heidi's BFFs. Poor Ali was a little under the weather and we had very little in the way of an appropriate set, so let me preface these by admitting this isn't some of my best work. But oh well. They are still cute photos of Ali. 

That wrinkled sheet in the background is awful, I know. But check out that adorable chunky baby. 

Heidi's two year update is coming soon! Stay tuned.

The Day We Met Leila

 

This is my friend Liza. She is in labor in this picture. Amazing, right?

Epidurals are pretty cool.

Here is her daughter Leila’s birth day in pictures.

 

A birth calls for a celebration. We like to celebrate with Asti Spumante.

Leila’s daddy and his sister sleep on the couch while they wait for Leila to come.

 

This left us quite bored. So we amused ourselves by taking a few glamour shots and watching Billionaire Matchmaker.

And also, discussing with the nurses whether they have seen anyone attempting orgasmic childbirth.

She says she hasn’t, but has heard about it.

5 hours after being induced, Liza is ready to push.

 

She made childbirth look so easy.

With only a few pushes, baby Leilani was here.

 

 

Welcome to your life baby Leilani! We’re so happy you came along.

I Heart Leila

Today I saw my first live birth. Amazing. 

Golden Years

My daughter is two years old today.

It feels so weird to say that.

I feel like so much of my life has been spent fantasizing about future realities and what they would entail. Dreaming about how wonderful it will be to be married to the man of my dreams, how fun it will be to decorate our home, how satisfying it will be when I open the refrigerator and find all of my favorite foods that my mother would never buy, how hot my husband will look as he carries our babies in infant car seats.

And here I sit, thinking that I should really write about what Heidi is like at two so that I can remember this time in the years to come. So that it wont be forgotten.

These are the glory days. The days I dreamed about. They are here. And I love them. And I am sad that they are not only here, not only coming, but also leaving. Becoming a part of history.

In this life you are only young once. Only for a few years. And soon are you are headed towards infertility, a foggy mind, and a body that becomes more frail with each passing year. And then you are not here at all. And then your children are not here at all. This is the reality of the plight of all of us for as long as God allows this cycle to continue.

How I look forward to the day when God puts an end to it. When Revelation 21:3,4 is fulfilled.

"With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

When Psalms 37:10,11 comes true.

"And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."

I cannot wait until all of our years can be golden, instead of just a few.

Pictured above - My mother, father, and me. 

The Best Things In Life are Free

Ever since I joined the mom club, I’ve always been fascinated by people who claim their favorite age is newborn. To me, parenting a newborn is the most challenging age I’ve lived through. Why? Because newborns are the neediest form of human being you will ever encounter. And satisfying their needs is incredibly difficult, sometimes impossible. Take for example, breastfeeding. If you are a mom you know that newborns need to eat every two hours. And if you plan on breastfeeding then you can expect a feeding to take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. This leaves you approximately a one hour break before you need to feed again. And this cycle doesn’t just stop when its bedtime. Newborns don’t care if its 2 am or 4 am. They just need you to feed them. And change their poopy diaper before the ammonia from their urine burns their skin and makes them bleed (yes this happened to us!)(and I wasn’t being negligent either! the diaper rash was so lightly colored, I thought it was just her normal coloring until next thing you know it was bleeding!). Also, you don’t really get much back from newborns. They really aren’t capable of much other than crying, eating, spitting up, defecating, and cat napping.

As you can see, the challenges of newborn parenting are still vivid in my mind. It was a fairly traumatizing period to say the least. In the past, whenever I would see a pregnant woman who looked like she was about to pop with her first child I would chuckle and say to her “your world is about to be turned upside down!” If I saw a couple taking home their first child from the hospital on TV, I would say to myself “I don’t envy you guys! I’d hate to go through that stage again!” But my feelings towards newborns are starting to change.

It all started a couple days ago as I was going through Heidi’s old clothes looking for some hand me down’s for my best friend’s baby due in a couple weeks. As I peeked through all those outfits a wave of nostalgia washed over me.  Each little outfit flooded me with memories of the newborn Heidi wearing it. There are so many feelings from that time period that I had forgotten about and still can’t quite describe even now. The anticipation of the unknown in pregnancy, the love so strong it hurts when you finally get to hold them, the miracle of holding a being that you created with man you’ve loved since you were a child. The realization that your life is more beautiful than you ever thought it would be.

As I think about all of this, my heart swells once again with appreciation. I’m so grateful to have been allowed the privilege of being Heidi’s mother and Austin’s wife. God is too good to me, even if he does make caring for newborns one of the most difficult jobs on the planet.  And if he allows me to have another one, I will savor it for the gift that it is – and this time, I will bear the difficult parts with a smile on my face.

My song for Heidi: 

(yes i know this is a love song from a guy to a girl, but the words so describe how new parents feel)

Love this picture, because it was taken at 4 am. You know you love your baby when you just have to get your camera out and take a picture at 4 am. 

 

Hello Kitty Rain Stuff

 

Nana bought Heidi a new rain coat and boots.

Seriously, the cutest things ever right?

Also, that second to last picture really reminds me of Robin Hood.

On an unrelated note, just heard the most awesome song ever for moms. You have to hear it.

We are so naming our first son Trace.

(thats right dad, we’re naming him after Trace Adkins, not you.)